Two Plus Torture Makes Five: Difference between revisions

* As shown above, George Orwell used this for ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''. Winston Smith writes that freedom is the ability to say "two plus two is four," then later tries to make himself believe in Doublethink by changing it to five. During his torture, the torturer forces him to see [[How Many Fingers?|five fingers]] when there are only four. After Winston is released, he at one point subconsciously writes "2 + 2 = 5" on a coffee table's dust layer. Interestingly, several editions of the book list "2 + 2 = " instead, giving the impression of a [[Hope Spot]]. Alas, it's actually a typo: [[Downer Ending|Winston really did write "2 + 2 = 5"]]

* Dostoevsky offers us this joyful piece of wisdom:

* In one of ''[[The Stainless Steel Rat]]'' books, "the grey men" mess with Jim's mind using hypnosis {{spoiler|to make him think they've chopped off his hands and reattached them}}.

* In the children's book ''[[Jim Button|Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver]]'' (''Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer'') by [[Michael Ende]], the dragon Mrs. Grindtooth (Frau Mahlzahn) tries to use this technique on her pupil/slave Li Si. Li Si, being both very intelligent and very brave, refuses to fold.